"So, the world's going to end." Leonard Morris said, brown eyes searching
the long wooden table where the other lawyers of Special Projects resided.
Being the head of the division for over two years, he was known for being
a hardass, and reveled in it. Nothing got by
him and Lilah had a feeling nothing ever
would.

For the first time, she actually respected her boss. He was a lot
different than Linwood Morrow, who was now resting somewhere in a shallow
grave. Lilah wasn't too sure of the details of
his dispatchment, but she had a feeling it had
something to do with the whole Angel-lost-his-soul incident. Hell, she
didn't care. At least he'd taken that weasel Gavin Park
with him.

"Well? What are we going to do about it?" Leonard's eyebrow arched and he
pursed his thick lips, dark brown skin glistening in the florescent lights
overhead. He pointedly looked over at Lilah.

"We have a team of experts---"

"Not good enough." Leonard cut her off, slamming his hand down on the
wooden table with a bang. "And you, young lady, have a lot of explaining
to do."

Lilah knew immediately what he meant. "Angelus
and Cordelia came to see me. They found out
about the prophecy and are hoping to bring it to fruition. I told them I
couldn't help them and they...threatened me. So I told them I would help
them any way I could. You do know I was lying, don't you?"

"Of course, Miss Morgan! Why would you go about disobeying company policy?
What I'm most interested in, is why you didn't
report them immediately?"

"I was waiting to see what their next move was, sir." She smiled
tight-lipped and toyed with the twist top of her fountain pen.

"Yes sir. But I have a feeling things have just gotten complicated."
Lilah changed the subject, bringing out her
folder and passing around thick pamphlets to everyone seated. Silence
followed as everyone flipped through the information presented in the
documents.

Morris threw down his packet. "So?"

"So, sir? Their home has been destroyed by Justine and the Hunters.
They're going to be concerned with revenge for a little while and we can
get the jump on them."

"I thought we were already working on that?" Morris
said, cool and calculating. Damn him, he had a way of demeaning
everything she said and making her feel like an
ineffectual idiot. She took a calming breath.

"We are sir, but we need more time to find out the where and who. The
Nyazian Scrolls only say that, and I quote,
"The world shall end." That's it. There are other passages that have to be
considered, but it makes no sense and we have the best transcribers on the
planet working on it."

"Not the best." Rauly spoke up, leaning
forward and clasping his hands on the table. Lilah
stared at him questioningly and then he went on.
"Wyndham-Pryce."

Lilah opened her mouth to protest and then
slammed it shut once more.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't he tell Miss Morgan to um, take this
job and shove it?" Mac said and Lilah shot her
an evil glare.

"That's not all he did, from what I--" Someone muttered;
Lilah didn't catch who.

"I don't care about what he said," Morris interrupted, waving his hands
and then staring at each of them. "I want Wyndham-Pryce on this,
yesterday."

"He won't do it, sir. You know that." Lilah
protested, thinking of the last time she'd seen the leader of Connor
Investigations. They hadn't parted on good terms, which was nothing new.

"Oh, I think he'll come around once he learns what the prophecy states.
After all, we're on the same side, for once." Morris
said, standing and glaring at Lilah.
"And if that doesn't get him, tell him that his old friends are hell-bent
on making it all come true."

And with that, Leonard Morris walked out of the meeting room, leaving
Lilah glaring after him. She had to give him
credit; he was good.

*****

Setting---The Hyperion Hotel, same day

"What in bloody hell does she want?" Wesley growled, not looking up from
his mound of paperwork.

"Dunno, but she insists on seeing you, bro."
Gunn informed him, standing with his arms crossed over his chest, the
light from the lobby blocked by the bulk of his body.

"Tell her to naff off." Wesley shot him a grim
smile and then looked back down at his hands, spread across an invoice.

"Fuck you." Lilah's voice dared to breach the
sanctity of his office and Wesley's head snapped up once more. Blue eyes
narrowed in her direction as she pushed her way past Gunn. Charles avoided
her touch like acid and watched as Wesley nodded him out.

The door closed behind them and Wesley stared impassively at
Lilah Morgan. She took a seat without him
inviting her, long, elegant legs crossed, a leather briefcase in her
hands.

"Been a long time, Wesley."

"Not nearly long enough, Lilah. Why are you
here? Another job offer?" Wesley said, tangling his fingers and twirling
his thumbs boredly.

"Strangely enough, yes." She answered, arching
her eyebrow at him and smiling in that mysterious way that grated at every
nerve in his body.

"Not interested. Leave." He said automatically, leaning back in his chair.

"You remember the Nyazian scrolls?" At his
solemn nod, she continued. "Well there's a passage my company is having
trouble with. We thought you'd like to give it a shot. Use that big brain
of yours for something worthwhile instead of rotting here in your hotel,
acting like you're saving the world."

"Not interested." He said once more, ignoring the jab.

"Not even if the scrolls say that the world is going to end?"
Lilah said, smiling as she saw him flinch.

"Do they?" His face was impassive, but he couldn't keep the intrigue out
of his voice.

"Indeed, and there's someone you know that's
made this prophecy coming true their top priority."

"Angelus and Cordelia, I presume."

"You always were a good guesser, Wes."

"If this is some lie to try and lure me in...." His voice trailed off and
he glared at her.

"Would I lie to you?" Again, he stared at her and she smiled. "Okay, would
I go out of my way, risk being killed for just showing my face, to lie to
you?"

"I wouldn't put it past you, Lilah."

"You're right. But I've been known to do things that I shouldn't."
Lilah looked him up and down pointedly; he
shifted uncomfortably and glared at her. He resisted a shudder,
remembering all too well those months spent burying his pain in her.

"Don't we all?"

"So, enough with the memory lane barbs, are you going to help or not? We
are on the same side this time, you know." Lilah
shook herself and threw a big stack of papers down in front of him.

"I very much doubt that." Wesley murmured as he scanned the documents
before him. "So, you need me to translate the
scrolls for you, so you can stop the world from ending and therefore
continue in your never-ending quest to drive Angelus over the edge so that
he can bring about the end of the world?"

"Something like that."
Lilah flashed a smile at him. "Our company policy specifically
forbids all premature end-of-world events and this one falls under that
category. Therefore, we stop it."

"You know what I don't get?" Wesley ran a dogged hand through his thick
hair. "Why hasn't your other prophecy come true, yet? Angelus is obviously
evil, so why doesn't he do what he's supposed to?"

Lilah shifted uncomfortably in her seat. As
she recrossed her legs, he caught a glimpse of
her bright red panties and shuddered.

"I will. And I expect my company to be paid accordingly." Wesley thumbed
through the documents again.

"Of course."Lilah
said, pulling out other documents and placing them on his desk. Among
them, Wesley spotted the Nyazian scrolls and
flinched. "You know I think this could be the start of--"

"Of nothing. Leave now. I'll contact you when I know something." Wesley
didn't look at her and kept reading as she watched him. On a sigh,
Lilah stood and walked out. Wesley watched her
go out of the corner of his eyes.

What was it with him and evil women?

*****

Setting---A warehouse in Compton, 11:00 pm, that night

"We've talked it over and we think that you should lead a surprise attack
on Angelus and Cordelia, somewhere where
they'd least expect it." Justine said, standing in front of her assembled
recruits.

"I thought I'd already done that." Faith said,
playing with a small dagger and eyeing the war leader in front her. The
hair on the back of her neck rose. Something about the whole day had been
off and this was the icing.

"True, but you'll have backup this time." Tor
spoke up, his muscles rippling as he stood.

"I don't play well with others." Faith said, cleaning the dirt out from
under her fingernails with the tip of the blade.

"You work for me, you do." Justine's voice was harsh on her ears and Faith
glared up at her from under the cover of her hair.

"Maybe I'm tired of working for you?" Faith challenged her, anger too much
for her to contain. She was never good at tolerating authority figures and
she was amazed she'd taken Justine's shit for as long as she had.

"Why all the hostility, Faith? We're trying to
help you here. We all want the same thing." Torsaid, much more patient than his leader. Faith
almost liked him, despite the cold look in his eyes that reminded her of
some of the inmates she'd met in prison. Like there
was a lot more going on behind his eyes than he was letting on; like he
was planning something.

"I'm not sure we do, Tor." Justine said,
stepping up and staring Faith down. The Slayer had to give her credit; the
woman had a nice set of rocks. Faith stood and stared her down, a full two
inches taller than her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She challenged the redhead, eyes flashing.

"I'm just saying, you don't seem so driven now
that Prince Charming has saved you from Angelus. I mean, he played
nursemaid and everything." She gestured to Faith's bandaged neck. Faith's
hand rose of its own accord and she flinched.

"Fuck you. It's not like that." For once, she didn't seem to have a decent
comeback. In fact, she was getting red in the face. From anger or
something else, she was hard-pressed to answer.

"Right, so what's the problem here?" Marie spoke up, bright pink hair
nearly glowing in the dim lights. Faith turned a face full of distaste in
her direction. "You gonna do your job or
what?"

"Yeah? She gonna do her job?"

The voice was foreign to nearly everyone in the room. At least two people
stopped, blood running cold. Faith turned and looked straight at the
intruder, blood smeared across his lips and one of the recruits in his
arms, dead eyes staring. The body fell out of the cold, pale hands and
smacked wetly on the ground.

"What? You're not going to welcome me, Justine?" Angelus said, smiling
widely before leaping across the floor, straight at the two women.